I am honestly thrilled to see the recent run of success of the local teams. Besides the obvious enhanced interest in the coverage, it is great for the local baseball community to have such a good product at all the Long Island universities. It gives top high school players more reason to stay home, which results in having a stronger overall caliber of play.
Once again, the rankings were very difficult this week. As you can see by the records, almost all of the teams are above .500, so I decided to add their records this week because trends is really the only way to separate some of these teams.
For example, Old Westbury is coming off a huge week which isn’t obvious when looking at their overall record but only when you look at where they were last week at this time.
The college playoffs are going to be extremely competitive, there is a realistic chance that some of these teams will receive at-large bids to the NCAA Regional even if they don’t come away on top during the conference tournament.
Let’s dive in to see how the teams stack up:
Division-I:
- Fordham (Record: 20-12, Past Week: 4-0)
Outstanding week for Fordham, capped with a series sweep over St. Joseph’s. One interesting thing is that they have a record of 12-2 at home and only 8-9 on the road. This could pose an issue next weekend down in Richmond against VCU. The story today was Anthony Dimeglio, who fired eight shutout innings, allowing just three hits with 10 strikeouts. C.J. Vazquez and Nick Labella both homered. Jake MacKenzie has an incredible 47 hits already, he’s been on fire from the jump. He also had 29 stolen bases in 33 attempts and 15 extra-base hits. Wow. He’s hitting .364 and their next best hitter is Nick Labella at .263. Fortunately, the pitching led by John Stankiewicz (1.02 ERA) has been downright nasty.
2. St. John’s (Record: 16-11, Past Week: 4-1)
The Red Storm look like they’re hitting their stride after a solid weekend series against Butler. They also busted out the bats on Wednesday against Columbia with 22 runs. They are starting to hit, Wyatt Muscarella (.329), Ryan Markey (.318) and Mike Antico (.316) have been leading the charge. Joe Lasorsa, Joe Kelly and Sean Mooney have been other-worldly in the rotation.
3. Stony Brook (Record: 16-10, Past Week: 2-2)
It wasn’t a bad week at all, but they do drop down two spots simply because of the hot week of Fordham and St. John’s. They squandered a 5-0 lead today, which cost them a crucial conference win. Dylan Resk went 4-for-4 which was a silver lining. We know about Michael Wilson‘s incredible season, but Nick Grande has been so hot he actually overtook him for hits this season (39 to 38) although Wilson has 33 RBI to Grande’s 15. They have another big America East series this weekend against rival Binghamton.
4. Hofstra (Record: 5-21, Past Week: 2-3)
Clearly this season has not gone the way they had hoped, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been some positives. One big moment occurred Friday when sophomore Jimmy Joyce wen 6.2 shutout innings to earn his first collegiate win. Additionally, despite a very slow start, Vito Friscia has been on fire. He’s up to .298 with 4 home runs and an OBP of .426. If pitchers give him anything to hit, he has a real chance for a double-digit home run season and he will get drafted.
Division-II:
- Adelphi (Record: 20-5, Past Week: 6-0)
Wow, the Panthers have been on fire and this week they were perfect. With 20 wins in 25 games, they are off to the best start in program history. As I said many times in the offseason, their offense is deeper than ever which allows them to withstand cold streaks from any one individual. The biggest contributors have been Brandon Morse (.368 AVG, 28 runs), Lawrence Cicileo (.358 AVG, 5 HR, 27 runs), Tyler Becker (.338 AVG, 22 runs), Brett Malm (.324 AVG, 25 runs) and Thomas Colombo (.313 AVG, 5 HR, 25 RBI). The team ERA is solid at 3.65. The dominance of Ed Baram (0.65 ERA, 5-0 record) has been well-documented, but don’t overlook the recent success of Daniel Taggart, Nic Luc and Kevin Glasser as big reasons for their success. Lastly, closer Tom Ambrosino is providing late-inning dominance not seen since Dillon McNamara in 2013. He has allowed 1 run over 14.1 IP. McNamara was All-American that season after he allowed just one run over 29 IP. They have three more games this week, I’m thinking they can’t get back on the field soon enough.
2. NYIT (Record: 20-6, Past Week: 5-1)
They had their 8-game winning streak snapped by Bridgeport. Had they held on, they would’ve retained the No. 1 spot. They are at the point now where they may have already guaranteed themselves an appearance in the regionals. They are a very talented team. They are hitting .303 as a team, led by E.J. Cumbo (.446 AVG, 1.135 OPS), Ryan Kuskowski (.395 AVG, 30 RBI), Ben McNeill (.311 AVG), John LaRocca (.337 AVG) and Jake Lebel (1.198 OPS). DJ Masuck is 6-0 on the mound, Joseph Murphy is 5-1 after his shutout the other day and Zach White has yet to allow a run over 11.2 IP. With four games against Mercy, they have an excellent chance to keep rolling.
3. LIU Post (Record: 20-10, Past Week: 4-1)
I almost feel bad having to put them No. 3 but it’s just hard to justify having them ahead of either Tech or AU. They had another good week, and the first thing that jumped out (besides James Varela having 77 strikeouts already) is Joshua Loeschorn. I can’t say enough good things about the kid. Only a freshman, he’s mature beyond his years and already looks like a pro pitcher. He’s 5-0 with a 5:1 K:BB ratio, he’s got a 1.56 ERA and he has impeccable command with a great fastball. They finally lost a game this week (to Mercy), but bounced right back with a shutout win. They are hitting .295 as a team with a .400 OBP. Zach Fritz has five HR, Dave Brehm and Chris Wasson each have 39 hits, Anthony Vaglica is hitting .356. They have Bridgeport this weekend.
4. Queens (Record: 17-11-1, Past Week: 5-0)
It was a huge week for the Knights and in just about any other season, that is rewarded with skyrocketing to the top spot. They went 5-0 this week and they took their turn beating up on the 1-22 Lincoln University, scoring 52 runs in the process. Even without that, the offense has been terrific. They are hitting .316 as a team, Eric Roubal (.369 AVG), Lou Antos (.348 AVG) and Jon Strauss (.342 AVG) all have 40 hits already. When I went last week, everyone I spoke to was raving about Strauss, the freshman stud that won’t stop hitting. Ron Linsalato is leading the team in hitting at .371 and has cored 25 runs already. They’ve had no issue scoring, the issue has been the preventing of runs. The 6.03 team ERA is the achilles heel. They will get Molloy this weekend.
5. Molloy (Record: 9-18, Past Week: 2-3)
They’ve definitely played better since conference play has begun, as they are sitting at 6-6 and just split with St. Thomas Aquinas. They are also hitting the cover off the ball with a .304 team average with a .400 on base. James Messina, Chris Peralta, Sean Hogan, Jake Saltzman, Jake McCarthy and Nick Marino are all regulars hitting over .300. Marino had the big walk-off hit against STAC yesterday. They have a chance to stay right in the mix this weekend with a four-game series against Queens.
Division-III:
- Farmingdale State (Record: 20-5, Past Week: 8-0)
This is undoubtedly their best team since 2012 when they came within a run of reaching the College World Series, but lost in extras to Cortland. An 8-0 week is pretty remarkable, simply because nobody has that kind of pitching depth regardless of who you’re playing. They haven’t lost since March 23 against USMMA, who is the next best team behind them. Osik has done a great job of getting everyone at bats, they have 15 players with at least 30 plate appearances. Leading the way is Vinny Rice and Steven Burke, who’s been a godsend for them. The real reason for their success is the 2.77 team ERA. Matthew Constantine has been pitching like a man possessed, he won both ends of the double header on Monday. Him, Burke, Joe Marino and Nicholas Rooney have all been lights out and they have Logan Hicks at the backend dominating, he now has the lowest ERA in school history with that volume of innings. They are clearly the best team in the conference, what they do with it is up to them.
2. USMMA (Record: 19-7, Past Week: 5-0)
A .344 team batting average with a .430 on base says it all–this team can hit. They are averaging 7.8 runs per game. Just as impressively, they’ve done it by hitting only one home run in 26 games. This weekend they swept Purchase and Mount St. Vincent. Next week, they will have Maritime and Old Westbury, so it will be a critical one. At 10-2 in conference, they’ve put themselves in a good spot. Although they can all hit, the stars have certainly been Jesse Reinebold (.441 AVG, .492 OBP) and Vincenzo Alteri (.423 AVG, .487 OBP). The pitching has been really, really good with a 3.13 ERA. Much of that is Andrew Spinnenweber, Joe Raab and John Kelly Jr spinning gems every week. If they have a late lead, they’ve been perfect with Kyle Cunningham coming over from third base and throwing 7.2 shutout innings with 5 saves. If they can get into championship Sunday having only used Spinnenweber and Raab, they have a shot to win it all.
3. Old Westbury (Record: 13-11-1, Past Week: 6-1)
They have been on a tear since they were written off. It’s hard to know exactly what they are because they have been a different team recently. I think part of it is the return of Mike Manetta from a hamstring injury that gives them stability atop the lineup and at shortstop and it’s also Patrick Quinn becoming a frontline starter. When you have him, a resurgent Christian Tessitore, Brandon O’Brien, Joe Sarni and Adam Heidenfelder (who fired a complete game with no walks yesterday), that’s a pretty solid staff. The offense has been god, not great as they have a .276 AVG with 5 runs a game. Peter Capel has been fantastic, .484 OBP and 28 RBI. Manetta, Michael Borsch and John Condon have also carried the load. Brandon Wilson had a huge game on Saturday, hitting a clutch 3-R HR. A 4-0 conference weekend is great, but they will have a huge challenge this weekend with both Farmingdale and USMMA. They will be at home, where they are 5-2.
4. Maritime (Record: 16-11, Past Week: 1-4)
After winning 10 in a row and topping the list last week, they lost 3 of 4 this weekend to fall back down to No. 4. They are a solid team and they have avoided a lot of the growing pains that come along with being a young team. They are led by Travis Zurita and Matt Eng offensively. Zurita hit a big game-tying shot yesterday. Eng already has 25 stolen bases in 26 attempts. Zurita is leading the team with 24 RBI. A 3.88 team ERA is pretty remarkable considering their home field typically has been a hitter’s haven. Niko Concha has been incredible. The freshman has a 2.37 ERA with 2 CGs and an opponent’s average of .162. A.J. Ammirati has led the team in ERA at 2.12 and a 0.99 WHIP. They will have Merchant Marine Saturday and Yeshiva on Sunday.
5. St. Joseph’s (Record: 13-12, Past Week: 5-3)
They had a nice week to get back over .500, although it started in the worst way with a double header sweep against Farmingdale. The offense has been very good, they are hitting .292 as a team with a .393 OBP. Anthony Raucci (.457 OBP), Jesse Nakashian (.494 OBP), Tyler Sanderson (.479 OBP) have all been unreal. Anthony Papa and Tim Woodford have been very effective atop the rotation, and their two freshmen (Ryan Foran and Kevin Czeczotka) are getting their feet wet and will likely be four-year starters for them. They have Mount St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s-Brooklyn this weekend.
